Build a Claude Code Automation Pipeline in 30 Minutes
A fully automated Claude Code pipeline using LaunchAgents and pmset scheduling
A complete guide to building a fully automated Claude Code pipeline that runs itself. Learn how to wake your Mac at scheduled times, run tasks without manual intervention, maintain system state across sleep cycles, and log everything for debugging and optimization.
What You'll Build
This guide teaches you to create a complete automation pipeline with five key components: a Wake Scheduler for automatic system wake at 6pm, a Caffeinate Handler to keep the system awake for 30 minutes, Sequential Tasks to run a second wake at 7pm for additional automation, a comprehensive Logging System to track all activity for optimization, and Control Scripts providing start/stop/status commands for easy management.
Why This Matters: As a solopreneur or AI-native founder, your productivity multiplier comes from systems that run themselves. This tutorial teaches you the foundational pattern used for every automation project, from nightly data backups to content generation pipelines.
Learning Journey
By completing this guide, you will understand macOS LaunchAgents and pmset scheduling, build a sequential wake automation system, implement error handling and logging, create reusable automation templates, and measure and optimize automation performance.
Guide Chapters
Chapter 1: Introduction
Discover why automation eliminates friction between you and your work
Chapter 2: Prerequisites
Set up your workspace with required tools and knowledge
Chapter 3: Theory
Understand the three pillars of macOS automation
Chapter 4: Implementation
Build the automation pipeline step-by-step in 30 minutes
Chapter 5: Advanced Techniques
Explore multi-task automation, error handling, and Claude integration
Chapter 6: Troubleshooting
Solve common issues from real-world experience
Chapter 7: Resources
Access documentation, citations, and community resources
Chapter 8: Conclusion
Understand what you've built and your automation journey
Chapter 9: Appendix
Quick reference for commands and customization
Prerequisites
Before starting, you should be comfortable with running commands in Terminal, basic shell scripting (bash), understanding of file paths and directories, and using a text editor like vim, nano, or VS Code. If you're new to shell scripting, don't worry—every command is explained with copy-paste examples designed for practitioners, not experts.
Key Concepts
The Automation Pattern: This guide uses three macOS components working together—pmset schedules wake, LaunchAgent detects wake and triggers handler script, handler runs caffeinate to keep system awake for 30 minutes, handler schedules next wake, system can sleep after caffeinate ends, and the cycle repeats. This pattern is decoupled (each tool does one thing well), fault tolerant (LaunchAgent auto-restarts), observable (logs at each step), and flexible (easy to modify timing or add tasks).
Time Investment: Initial build takes 30 minutes, testing and refinement takes 15 minutes, for a total of 45 minutes to complete implementation.